Kymairah's Ki
by AsheRhyder
Summary: Despair can swallow the soul. A madman collects the souls of the most powerful magic users in a quest to usurp L-sama. All he needs is the soul of a Shamanism Master...


Kymairah's Ki

Disclaimer: Slayers belongs to people other than me who hold very important pieces of paper saying that they do indeed own it and will sue my ass off if I say I own it or if I make money off of this, which I don't. 

Author's Note: This is, to date, the most angst-filled thing I've written. Here it is in its entirety so you don't have to suffer waiting for me to put up the parts. Please forgive any continuity disorders; this was written very, very early in my Slay-fic writing career. Give me a heads-up if you want me to rewrite the ending to be happier, which I am already considering doing anyway. 

Prologue: Destruction! He Who Steals Souls! 

The key to all power was within his grasp. White and Black Magic were not a problem to locate; any temple in Seyroon was filled with the Flare Dragon's power, and the best place to find the essence of Shabranigdo was anywhere with massive amounts of destruction. Nightmare Magic was no longer practiced due to the threat it posed to all life, so that left only Spirit Magic; Shamanism. And because Gaea sheltered her own, it was Shamanism that was the hardest to locate a master in it. 

"Damnation!" The scryer roared, smashing his fist on the table. The rogue across from him jumped slightly, spilling a bit of his ale. 

"It's the only lead we've had for a month." The scoundrel shrugged. "I'm sorry it's such a disappointment, but - " 

"No buts!" The other snarled. "Tail them closely, and don't lose them no matter what _she _pulls." 

"But sir - " 

"Didn't I say 'no buts'?!" 

"Yessir..." 

"Return successful, and your men will have all the gold they can carry." He promised. "Fail, and..." 

"Death?" 

"Much, much worse. Now get out of my sight." 

"Yessir." The mercenary quickly rose and left the meeting place. 

"I will not allow such a cocky upstart as Lina Inverse to hinder my plan." The seer scowled and gazed at his medallion. The souls of ninety-nine magic users fueled the power that he wielded, but only two had been Masters. One of Black, one of White, leaving only that last empty slot for a Master Shaman. Just one last soul... 

I: Despair! Zelgadis Gives Up? 

Lina Inverse stared at the old sage in disbelief. 

"Whaddya mean, there's nothing?!" She yelled, getting ready to throttle him, fry him, or both. 

"Short of walking up to the Lord of Nightmares and asking her to do it, there's no way to undo a curse once the caster is dead." The aged wise man slammed shut his dusty book, great clouds of sediment sending Gourry, Ameria, and Lina into coughing fits. 

"So." Zelgadis stared numbly at his hands. "That's it, then. I'm stuck like this... forever." His cerulean eyes were dull and gave no hint about the razor sharp intellect behind them. 

"It's okay, Zelgadis-san, out undying friendship is not based on your appearance, but rather, the loyal and just man that you are inside!" Ameria beamed, but her sunny disposition was unable to pierce the heavy cloud of depression that had firmly settled over him. 

"Ameria?" He lifted his expressionless gaze to her. 

"Yes?" She smiled brighter in hopes of lifting his spirit. 

"Shut up." There was no temper to his voice, no anger, no annoyance, no venom, only the exhaustion of someone who was tired of life. 

"Ne, Zel, she was only trying to help." Gourry fell silent after the chimera turned his ice-blue eyes on him. 

"I don't care." The shaman shrugged. "Do whatever you like, just as long as you leave me out of it." He stood quietly and walked out the door. 

Lina watched him for a moment, her temper fermenting until it exploded. 

"Listen up, ya' old coot." She snarled, grabbing the sage by the collar. "You sit here and you find something. I don't care what the hell it is, just find _something _to help Zel! Gourry, Ameria, stay here and don't let this moron out of your sight. I'm going to get Zel, and then we can all discuss this like mature adults instead of running out on everyone." 

"Lina-san, I want to come too!" Ameria whined. 

"You gotta stay here and make sure yogurt-brains doesn't wander off." Lina snapped. 

"Why can't you do that?" 

"'Cause I don't have the patience!" 

"oh." The young princess squeaked as the red head took to the air in pursuit of Zelgadis. 

It had started out so wonderfully. The rumor of the world's wisest man had been relatively easy to follow, the forest full of monsters was a piece of cake to pass through, the giant squid they had to fight to get to the island made for delicious calamari, and the old guy was more than willing to do a little research for the first company he had received in over fifty years. 

_How did it come to be like this? _Zelgadis wondered as he numbly sped through the forest with reasonably less monsters. _Why am I still angry at Rezo when it was my own selfish foolishness that - _

"Hey, Zel! Wait up!" Lina's voice broke his concentration, and he had the great misfortune of running straight into one of the larger trees. 

"Oww..." He moaned, sliding to the ground. 

"Oops. Sorry, Zel." She grimaced, landing next to him. 

"Lina..." He growled, rubbing his aching head. 

"Well, it's good to see you've still got some life left in you." She poked his neck, and he cringed in pain. 

"Why are you here?" He asked quietly, rising to his feet and dusting off his clothes. 

"Why are you?" She retorted, brushing some dirt from his shoulder. 

"What do you want?" Zelgadis' voice resumed the dead quality he had before, when the wise man found the lack of a solution. 

"I want you to come back with me so we can beat the old guy into finding a different answer." She straightened his brooch, smiling. "C'mon, it'll be fun." 

"No, thank you." He politely began walking off in the direction opposite of her. 

"Why not?" She pouted. 

"Because I am tired," he sighed, "of hoping and finding nothing." With that, he blurred out, his demonic speed leaving only a trail of scorched earth.

II: Determination! Gaea Shelters Her Own! 

From atop the cliffs, the view was breath taking. Sunset brought out every color of the rainbow, and they filled the sky with their hues. In the distance, an eagle flew towards its nest, where its offspring hungrily awaited the spoils of the hunt. The crimson sun touched the distant shore of the lake, and light rippled in every tiny wave that lapped the place where earth confronted water. The breeze blew in the scent of honeysuckle and wildflowers. 

Zelgadis was not moved in the least by this display of nature's beauty. 

"What do you want?" He addressed the leader of a scruffy looking group of rapscallions. "Don't you have better things to do than harass a monster?" 

"Mazoku?" The leader arched an eyebrow, yet remained otherwise unimpressed by Zelgadis' reply. 

"No," was the soft answer. "But just as bad." He turned around, giving them a full view of his stone encrusted face and dead eyes. 

"What do you want?" He reiterated. "Money? I don't have much." 

"We ain't after your money, pal." 

"Well then, what?" 

"We just wanted ta' know if you've seen a little red headed girl go by, about yea high, kinda skinny, flat-chested..." The spokesman continued to list off bad characteristics of Lina, but Zelgadis had stopped listening. 

"Why do you want a red-head?" He inquired. "With the description you gave, she wouldn't be a very useful prostitute or slave." 

"Ah, ya' see, it's like this..." The leader smiled nervously. "That flat-chested bimbo took off with all our loot, and we kinda want it back. And we want revenge." 

"I see." Zelgadis nodded, appearing as if lost thought. 

"So, have you seen her?" 

"If you are trying to kill Lina Inverse, I suggest you forget about it. Bandits have died for much, much less, and you've already insulted her twice." 

"Oh, but we've got a secret weapon." The leader smirked. "See, we have it on very good authority that little miss Bandit Killer freaks out when slugs are involved. Giam here has spent years learning how to summon this." There was a brief pause as the apparent sorcerer, Giam, summoned a four-foot slug. 

"Well now, this will never do." Zelgadis frowned. 

"Why not?" Giam looked very disappointed. 

"Because now that I know what you plan to do to Lina, I'm afraid that I can't stand back and let you do it." A Flare Arrow took Giam out of commission, and a few odd fireballs took care of most of the rest of them. 

"So, you know the little wench personally?" The boss, so far unscratched, unsheathed his sword. 

"You could say that." Zelgadis shrugged, doing the same. 

"That would make you Zelgadis Greywers, right?" 

"Whatever gave it away?" The chimera sarcastically replied. 

"I know my regular sword won't pierce that rocky hide of yours, so I guess I'll have to use the special one." 

"You're pretty smart, for a bandit." 

"You're pretty slow, for a part demon." 

"FREEZE ARROW!" Zelgadis flung the spell as a warning. "Don't under-estimate me." 

"Of course not." The leader's sword absorbed his spell and began to glow. "And don't _you _under-estimate _me_." 

"DIEM WIND!" The blade absorbed that spell as well. The outlaw snickered. 

"Care to try again?" 

"RA TILT!" To the chimera's surprise, the most powerful attack spell in Shamanism was eagerly devoured by his opponent's sword. 

"My turn." Slashes and thrusts came in a flurry that would have given Gourry a hard time. Zelgadis barely managed to dodge or block. 

"Damn, what are you?" A lucky swipe nicked his collarbone, and the gemstone clasp he wore clattered to the ground. His cape, splattered with blood from the wound, soon followed. 

"Just a loyal servant to my master." Another cut, this time to his thigh. Zelgadis stumbled on the rocky edge and he saw the blade come down, but the deathblow never came. Somehow the earth had risen in aid of her child, forming a pillar around the blade and halting the progression an inch from the chimera's face. Spirits of the earth were screaming to him as the rogue freed his sword and attempted to strike again, only to find the Shaman's dagger embedded in his gut. 

"I... won't go... alone..." he snarled, slicing through the ledge they stood on so that they plummeted to the water below. 

There was a tremendous splash, and then all was still. 

"Damn! Where the hell could he have gotten to now?" Lina scowled as she stormed along the cliffs, hoping her voice would carry better. "Zel! Hey, Zel! Where - " her foot scuffed against a small metal object, causing her to look down. 

Zelgadis' bloodstained cloak and crimson brooch lay at the jagged edge of the peak, and the remnants of battle became visible in the twilight. She drew in a sharp breath, her voice catching in her throat. 

"Zelgadis!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and was rewarded with a weak groan. Peering over the edge, she found the chimera cradled in the boughs of a strange tree that jutted from the side. 

_Gaea shelters her own. _A voice on the wind whispered. _Gaea shelters her own._

III: Declaration! I Don't Need You! 

"You're going to keep bothering me until I tell you, aren't you?" Cool blue eyes did not reflect the annoyance in the airy tenor voice. 

"You got it." Fiery red eyes sparkled as he sighed. "C'mon, tell me what happened up there, Zel." 

"It's nothing." He attempted to brush off the topic, bus she would not be swayed. 

"C'mon, Zel, tell me! I'm your friend, right? Isn't that what friends are for?" She tugged on his arm so that he faced her. The sheer lack of vitality in his eyes rendered her speechless, as did his next words. 

"I have neither need nor want for friends, Lina." He responded. "I accompany you merely because power seems drawn to you like a moth to a flame. Should something happen that would place us on opposite sides, I would not hesitate to kill you." 

Lina slapped him. It hurt her hand more than his face, but it was the motivation that impacted him more than the action. 

"Zelgadis Greywers, stop detaching yourself!" She snapped. "We've been through tough times, faced multiple crisis from the end of the world to where to eat lunch, and saved each other's butts more than a few times. If that doesn't qualify for your friendship criteria, what the hell does?" Her angry ruby gaze did not allow any escape. He offered no reply as he turned his back on her and started walking again. 

"Leave me alone." He muttered. 

"No! Damn it, you're my friend, and I'm not going to let you walk off all melodramatic and depressed." Her temper was at a boil now. "Why do you always have to be so damn stubborn about these kinds of things? Why won't you let anyone be your friend?" 

"You don't understand at all." He shook his head slowly. "What do you think it's like to walk into your hometown, only to have the women and children run screaming and the men hunt you down like some kind of wild animal? Do you think that some twisted part of me enjoys knowing that _I'm _the monster parents tell their children is not under their beds? Unfortunately, Lina, the worst part is that a piece of my soul will never let go of the dark stain on my heart, and no matter what I do to try and purify it, it will never fade." He spun around once again, and began to exeunt, but was promptly choked because Lina had a death-grip on his cape. 

"Now look here, Mr. I'm-a-Monster, you're talking about being a walking nightmare?" She snorted. "Just _who _the hell do you think you're talking to, dummy? I'm Lina Inverse, Dra-matta, the natural enemy to all that lives, the flat-chested disaster bringer!" She paused for a moment, scowling. "Remind me to fry the guy who came up with that one." 

Somewhere, very far away, a certain purple haired Mazoku sneezed and wondered who was talking about him. 

"Furthermore," she continued ranting, "I can't believe that you would be so shallow as to deprive yourself of friends by looks alone. I mean, come _on_, Zel. Look at the rest of us! We've all got better things to argue about than how we look. Gourry's too much of an idiot to care, and Amelia's hung up on you like L-sama knows what." 

"And what about you?" 

"Huh? What about me?" 

"How do you go about ignoring my freakish appearance?" 

"I... I dunno." She shrugged. "I just look for other things, I guess. I mean, really Zelgadis, look at me. Do you honestly think I care what my friends look like, considering how I do? As long as they stay off the topic of my figure, I'm fine." 

"No, you're not." His gaze was cool and calculating. "You're extremely sensitive about your features. Any little comment will send you through the roof." 

"Okay, okay!" She fumed. "I'm shallow, too! But you don't see me keeping people at arm's length because of it! Are you scared to have a friend? Scared to need one?!" 

In a flash, he had her arms pinned at her sides and her back against a nearby tree. 

"You listen to me, and you listen well." He hissed, his eyes locking hers. "I drove people away to keep myself from hurting them. I am scared to _DEATH _that my search for a cure would cost the lives of anyone I call friend. There is nothing under the sun that frightens me more than losing anyone else I get close to; I've already had enough of that with Rezo. Stay away from me, Lina Inverse, or you _will _get hurt. And I don't want your blood on my hands, too." An apologetic expression flashed across his face for a brief moment as he abruptly released her, then disappeared in a blur of ivory. 

"Zel." She shook her head and sighed, rubbing her arms from where his grip had left colored marks. "Oh, Zel." 

From high above, he watched with great interest. The events that had just transpired produced a myriad of opportunities, one of which was absolutely too good to miss. 

"So." He chuckled, fingering the jewel that awaited one more soul. "The Chimera seeks a cure." The grin he wore could only be descried as predatory. It was the same kind of smile that foreshadowed a life-shattering event...

IV: Deal! A Bargain That Can't Be Refused! 

When he finally stopped running, the sun had already sunk below the horizon. Utterly exhausted, he sank to his knees in the cool grassy carpet on the forest floor. His highly tensed muscles eased painfully to relaxation. He hadn't expected the conversation to flow quite like that, nor did he know how he found the words to his final response so quickly, given his surprise. However he had managed, it did the job. He was alone now. 

He was so very alone. 

Or so he thought. 

"Hello." A baritone voice snapped him from his reverie. His lifeless blue eyes slowly focused on his addressor, a tall and thin man in a gray tunic and pants with short brown hair and eerie green eyes. 

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Zelgadis asked half-heartedly. 

"My name is Ikari Kuroi, and I want to know if you are the Shamanism Master named Zelgadis Greywers." The man's slight smile set his sixth sense on guard. 

"What if I am?" The chimera analyzed the grin, dissecting it and finding it all too familiar for comfort. 

"Then I will have found the man for whom I am searching." Ikari's emerald eyes danced. 

"Why are you looking for such a being as Zelgadis?" Ice blue met forest green, neither housing any emotion. 

"I wish to employ the services of the most powerful Shaman available, and he would be most interested to hear of the payment I am offering." The smile turned to a smirk. Zelgadis hesitated. 

"I'm listening." Cat-slit eyes met orbs of pure emerald without pupils. 

"Good." Kuroi's grin became an expression of absolute ominous ness. 

Four hours. The bar keeper glanced nervously at the last patron, who still sat at the corner table, nursing drinks that would have had an ordinary man on the floor. That man hadn't moved in fours hours, except to signal for another drink, and to blast the bouncer to kingdom come fifteen minutes ago. The terrified bar tender dared not anger a mage who had effortlessly blown up a muscle bound ox of a man, he valued his life more than that. 

But... it was a half hour after closing time... 

He was almost relieved when the petite redhead sauntered in and glanced about until she found the last drinker. 

"Excuse m-me miss, but we're closing..." He whimpered, hoping the other man wouldn't hear. 

"I'm just here to get him." She nodded at the mage, who had turned at the sound of her voice. 

"Still following me..." he mused, eyes a dark, stormy blue. 

"C'mon." She grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out the door. "You and I are going to have a little chat." He shrugged, tossing the barkeep the money for his drinks on the way. 

"How'd you find me, Lina?" He asked without any real curiosity. 

"Not important." Her ruby stare held his gaze a moment before he glanced away. "Now you tell me how come you were sitting in a bar drinking L-sama knows what." 

"I met someone." He leaned against the very fountain she had thrown him in to sober him up quickly. "I think this could be it, Lina." 

"Oh..." There was a moment of silence, and then she plopped down beside him. "So... What's her name?" 

"What?" Zelgadis fell out of his long sought relaxation. 

"C'mon, Zel, the _least _you can do is tell me her name." 

"Who?" He choked on his own words. 

"Your girlfriend!" She proclaimed. "You said you met someone, and you thought this was it. So tell me who she is! Is it Amelia?" 

"What?! No!" He coughed, emphasizing his answer with negative hand gestures. "It's nothing like that at all!" 

"Oh?" She arced an eyebrow in interest. 

"What I mean is I've found someone who might be able to cure me!" 

"What's the catch?" 

"I have to retrieve some kind of gem." He sighed. "The Moon's Eye." 

"Is that all?" 

"I know, it sounds too easy, too good to be true." Glacial eyes hardened with hatred. "Just like what Rezo offered..." 

"Are you going to do it?" 

"I... I don't know." The chimera shook his head. "The man swore he could cure me, and a part of me wants to believe it, but..." 

"Zel?" 

"Hm?" 

"I think you should go for it. One percent is better than none." 

"Hn." 

"Zel?" 

"Hm?" 

"Did you just open up, like a friend?" 

"Hn." 

"Thought so." 

"Lina?" 

"Wha - ?" 

"You're sitting on my foot..."

V: Disaster! A Price Too High! 

"RA-TILT!" Blood dripped in his eyes, filling his icy glare with a red haze. The guardian of the jewel, another breed of chimera altogether, fell lifeless to the ground at last. The creature's lion head, eagle wings, and horse flanks made it look something like a hippogryphon. 

"Finally." He sighed, wiping blood and sweat from his face. Though Zelgadis had attacked relentlessly, the gem's keeper had gotten in a few good swipes. He picked up the white sphere from its revered place on a stone pedestal and placed it carefully in the pouch by his hip. He headed for the exit, just making it out of the main chamber as the building housing a myriad of death traps began to quake. 

"How cliché." The Shaman muttered, zipping out of there at demonic speeds. 

Kuroi was waiting for him outside the temple, emerald eyes alight with a dark intention. Zelgadis held out the bag; his sixth sense practically screaming 'danger' when his employer did not even check the merchandise. 

"Well done." He smiled - that predatory expression! - as he conjured a sphere of energy on his first two fingers. "Now for your payment." By instinct alone, Zelgadis fell into a defensive stance, his weight resting on the balls of his feet in preparation to run. 

But by some unnatural means, Ikari was faster. One quick jab to the forehead, and the orb was inside him. He screamed as lightning played across his flesh, licking his nerves with delicate tongues of white fire. Raw power flayed stone from muscle, searing each wound with the touch of pain. 

"Kuroi..." he snarled, straining to grab Ikari's arm as it stretched towards his chest. There was a flash of metal as a dagger pierced his heart, and Zelgadis' emotionless, icy gaze melted into cerulean pools of fear and regret. The green-eyed devil smiled and pulled his blade from its sheath of rock turned human tissue. 

"Thank you very much, Zelgadis Greywers." He laughed, running his tongue along the lancelet to drink the former chimera's blood. "I now have everything I need to complete my plan. Don't you feel special? With your soul in my possession, no power in all the world can stop me." He laughed again, though this time it was a dark, sane chuckle. 

"Lina..." Scarlet blood bubbled over his pale lips as his breath faded from his lungs. _We were wrong... _

In the nearby town, Lina Inverse impatiently drummed her fingers on the table as she absently turned the pages of an old book. A sticky wet substance came off crimson on her gloves, and she stared at her hand in horror. 

"What the hell?" She murmured, glancing to the book again. The once black print had turned a vivid cerise, and ran down the leave in trails of ruddy liquid. The overwhelming coppery-metallic scent confirmed her suspicion; it was blood. 

From across the room, Amelia's startled scream brought her and Gourry running. 

"What? What?" The blonde swordsman asked as the young princess clung about his waist. 

"The b-b-book..." she whimpered, pointing to the tome she had been scanning. Lina's eyes narrowed. The print in Amelia's book had also turned into blood, and ran in little rivers to spell out 'Z-E-L'. 

"Zelgadis." She breathed, unsure if she should feel fearful or sorrowful. Bleeding books were never a good omen. 

"Lina-san, what's happening?" Amelia's bright blue eyes were full of tears as she spoke. 

"I'm not sure." The sorceress crossed her arms. "But I have a feeling it's only going to get worse." 

"Worse?" Gourry winced. 

"Much, much worse." She nodded. 

Far away, a woman opened her eyes, and they were wide with fright. A new player had entered the game, with pieces she could never acquire. There was a dangerous stranger, who wouldn't be playing by the rules in order to win. 

"Xellos!" Beastmaster Zelas Metallium called in her most powerful and trusted servant. 

"Master?" He appeared, kneeling obediently. 

"Report." 

"Power is amassing similar to Nightmare magic, but this time, it's not the doing of Lina Inverse." 

"Who, then?" 

"We don't know yet." 

"Well find out!" 

"I'm on it, Master." He promptly teleported off to do her bidding. 

"This is not good..." She folded her hands, eyes narrowing in anger. 

Farther away, a golden hared deity gazed into the Seas of Chaos and muttered,

"Well, shit." 

VI: Darkness! Composition of the Soul!

In a world without it's own light, the only luminescence came from the myriad of glowing spheres that floated in the dark. Each one of those orbs was the soul of a man or woman who excelled in magic, the crimson ones being users of Black and the blue signifying the White arts. And pulsing like a distant star, the few white illuminations represented Shamanism. 

**Zelgadis**. The voice of the mother whispered to the soul-light that flickered with hate and self-loathing. **Zelgadis...**

_What do you want? _While other souls cried out for freedom, this one desired nothing. 

**Zelgadis**. Gaea, entity of the earth, from whom all astral magic was spawned, had the patience of a mother to all her children. **Zelgadis, why are you giving up?**

_I don't care. _His reply was truly devoid of concern. 

**Why are you giving up?** She insisted. **You are strong enough to fight, why do you not? **

_I don't care. _He reiterated. 

**Why? **

_Because I don't. _

**That is not the answer. **

_I'm tired of fighting. _

**That is not the answer. **

_I'm tired of losing. _

**That is not the answer. **

_What do you want from me? _He grew frustrated. 

**Answer honestly. **

_I... _

**Zelgadis. **

_I'm scared. _

Of what? 

_I'm scared of living. _

Oh Zelgadis... 

Kuroi stood on the hilltop overlooking the small city. It would be a perfect test for his new power, as its entire defense was based around magic. He descended on the innocent people like a hawk descended on its prey. 

Zelgadis had never known that the soul could feel pain after the body had died; at least, not until today. Gaea's cry was the cry of those tortured by Kuroi's sadistic nature. 

**Do you see what your cowardice is causing?** She screamed in agony. **Can you not see that by fearing life, you are condemning others to death? **

_I see. _He answered, the pain of being helpless still hanging heavy. 

**Your captor will continue to destroy because as long as you remain here, with your fear, you feed his power.** Gaea urged him to take action. 

_I know. _He whispered. 

**Why do you do nothing? **

_Because... _Had he still had a body, he would have cast his eyes down. _I have already lost. _

"Over there!" Amelia yelled to Lina and Gourry. The trio stopped dead in their tracks a few feet away from the being that attacked mere moments ago. Clad in gray with glowing green eyes, their opponent merely smirked at any opposition. 

"This is so simple... where's the challenge?" He chuckled. 

"Right here!" Lina shouted, hurling a Fireball at him. 

"Child's play." He snickered as his body absorbed the spell. 

"What the hell?!" Her scarlet eyes widened. 

"Try this!" Amelia cried. "RA-TILT!" Their enemy opened his mouth... 

"Delicious." And _SWALLOWED _it. The princess gaped as he belched white sparks. 

"No freakin' way!" Lina shrieked. 

"Hikari O!" Gourry leapt with feline-like agility, slashing wildly at him. The energy blade had the same effect as its namesake; it did no more damage than a ray of light. 

"Is this all you can do?" 

"DRAGU SLAVE!" 

The sky was filled with red.... 

VII: Disillusioned! The Fate That Was Not To Be! 

Even after his soul had digested the energy of the Ra-Tilt, Zelgadis was still very shaken up about the entire matter. Every spark of spirit in the attack screamed the pain of the earth, so loudly he could not block it out. 

**Can't you see?** Gaea cried. **Can't you hear? Can't you feel? Why won't you fight back? **

_It would do no good. _He brushed off her anguished pleas. _I can do nothing against Kuroi. My body is dead, all I am is consciousness entrapped. _

**So you are truly giving up?** She now possessed bitterness in her voice. **You are going to let your friends die? **

_I neither have need nor want for friends. _He answered with an ancient exhaustion. _If someone I know of dies, it is their own fault. _

**You can't mean that.** Gaea retorted. **Every living thing in the world cannot exist by itself alone. Even the Mazoku need the Humans. You can't really mean you want to be left in oblivion forever! **

_I... _

**You don't want to be lonely forever, do you, Zelgadis? **

_... no ... _

**Why won't you fight back?**

_Because... I always fail. I'll lose again. _

Lina fell back with Gourry and Amelia, sweat beading on her face. Her gemstone hued eyes burned with fire as her shoulders heaved. No matter what they attacked him with, their opponent would absorb the spell or phase through the sword. 

"What are we going to do, Lina-san?" Amelia pushed her bangs away from her eyes. "Nothing works against this guy." 

"I'm going to try the Giga Slave." She held out her hand to Gourry, and he placed the Hikari no Ken into her waiting palm. "He's immune to Black, White, and Shamanism magic, maybe Nightmare will have an effect on him." She closed her eyes, her lips moving in the silent chant to invoke the power of the golden over-soul. 

"I hope this works..." Gourry gnawed on his fingernails as the sword glowed black. 

"GIGA..." Ruby toned eyes locked with emerald orbs, then traveled down to the talisman at his throat. "SLAVE!" She released the Nightmare energy, which thundered towards its target. The gray clad man did not seem the least bit worried by the resulting explosion. 

Gaea's almost unlimited patience was running out. Even a mother snaps once in a while, after all. 

**How do you know you will fail?** She asked of her Childe, Zelgadis, one of the few to Master her art. 

_Because I have tried, and failed. _He spoke as if he had been watching the world since time began. 

**Do you know how to fight him?** The ethereal essence that was Gaea wafted around the dim white light that was his soul. 

_I was born and bred to fight. _

**Did you attack with all you have? **

_Yes. _

**Did you fight with fervor, with passion? **

_I fought with all I could. _

**Childe of Earth, do not lie to your Mother. **

_...No. _

**You fought with cunning and strategy? **

_Yes. _

**Is your heart too dead to fight? **

_What? _

**Fight the heart with the mind, and the mind with the heart. **

_It is too late for that. _

**Then your heart has died... **

_Yes. _

**How regrettable. **

_Yes. _

**There is no hope, then. **

_I know. _

**You were an important part of the plot, Zelgadis Greywers. I am truly sorry that you are unable to participate.** Gaea sighed, and the warmth of her essence vanished as she retreated. The spark of light that represented his soul flickered, then darkened, and lastly died out as it sank into despair. 

Tears came to Lina's eyes as Kuroi smiled and lifted his hand towards them, the black glow of Nightmare magic spinning on his fingertips. 

"How refreshing." He mused. "What a lovely amount of power." He shot it back at her, each lancet leaving small craters where it hit the ground. One of the black daggers sliced through her stomach, and her eyes went wide. 

_This isn't how it's supposed to be! _She thought as she crumpled to her knees. _We **always **win! Why aren't we winning? _

"The heroes are supposed to win!" 

VIII: Destiny! The Value of Freedom! 

The pain that throbbed in the bloody laceration on Lina's side was nothing compared to that which had seized her in a grasp of disbelief. The heroes always won, that was the way the world worked. Yet here they were, the next to invincible team of rag-tag heroes who had saved the world so many times, and they were losing. The talisman she wore glowed brightly as she chanted the power amplifier for Ragna Blade. 

_L-sama, **please **help! _She prayed. _Let this work. Please! _

"RAGNA BLA - !" The words in her mouth were cut off as the gray clad man removed his dagger from her throat. 

"It will be so much more fun to watch you drown in your own blood." His green eyes flashed. 

_He was too close! _Her mind screamed. Too close! This was a game to him, they were just toys! 

"HYA!" Gourry yelled, bringing his sword down in a powerful arc... 

Lina's ruby eyes opened to darkness, something that startled her very much. 

_Great, I screwed up and now I'm dead. _She thought. 

**You are Lina Inverse?** A woman asked. 

She is. A second female answered before she had a chance to do so. 

**She has the best chance?** The conversation continued. 

Her demise on his conscious will suffice. 

**Shall I inform him? **

Do. 

"Hey, what's going on?!" Lina shouted. "Whose demise? On who's conscious?" 

Your death will prompt the Shaman's conscious to act. 

"Shaman? You can't mean..." 

Zelgadis Greywers. 

"What happened to Zel?" She demanded in a dangerously soft voice. 

Zelgadis sat in silent meditation, pulling his thoughts together in order to block out the screams of those around him. Sorcerers pleaded, priests begged, and other Shamans, few that there were, tried desperately to block out the sound. 

_I really should fight against this imprisonment. _He mused. _But to what would I be going back? Hate? Scorn? Pain? Betrayal? Death? _

Zelgadis. 

_I can't handle that any longer. I won't be able to face that kind of rejection. _

**Zelgadis. **

_Yet, to remain under the will of that bastard Kuroi would be doing the devil's bidding, just like signing Lina's and Gourry's and Amelia's death warrant. _

"ZEL!" While the voices of Spirit Mother Gaea and Golden Demon Lord of Nightmares could not pierce his reverie, the annoyed shout of Dra-matta Lina Inverse was more than enough to do so. 

_Lina? _

"Listen up Zel, 'cause I don't have much time." 

_What? Lina, what's going on? _

"That guy who said he'd cure you, you know what he wants, right?" 

_To rule the world. _

"Worse! He wants to destroy it, then recreate it!" 

_Lina, how did you - _

"Kuroi is threatening L-sama's power! No one's been able to scratch him, even with Nightmare Magic!" 

_What?! _

"He absorbed the Giga Slave!" 

_Impossible! _

"Zel, if you don't fight back, we don't stand a chance! Amelia's already been paralyzed from the waist down, and Gourry's lost his left arm." 

_What about you? _

"I... I'm bleeding to death. Zel, the team isn't complete without you. The chain is weaker when one link is gone. L-sama says I've got to get back to my body, or I'll die now. Please, Zel, fight back." 

_Lina, wait! _

Zelgadis. A woman, slender and blonde, appeared in the black sea of emptiness. 

_L-sama. _

For what will you fight? She questioned. Will you fight for life? For the world? For revenge? For what will you fight? Your fate depends on this answer.

Zelgadis searched his heart, dredging up betrayals and losses and painful memories. Not one of them seemed to be worth fighting for when he remembered them. 

Then, he found the answer was that which he most hated, most despised, most feared. He found his answer. 

IX: Damnation! The Answer To A Soul's Question!

When Lina opened her eyes, she was in a stone cavern, lying on a simple grass mattress. 

"Oh, so you're awake." Xellos Metallium's voice echoed with exhaustion. "I didn't know if you were going to make it. I should have known better, ne?" Smiling weakly, Xellos appeared before her. 

"Wha - ?" Her hand went to her throat, and her eyes closed as she felt the scar from Kuroi's dagger. 

"Funny, really, how Amelia used her life-force to heal you." He sighed. "What a shame that she died so anti-climatically." 

"Amelia? Dead?" She whispered. 

"Uh-huh." He nodded. 

"What about Gourry?" Dread filled her voice. 

"He's asleep at the moment." He replied. "Fortunately, his arm was cauterized by the spell that removed it." 

"Did you fight Kuroi?" She asked quietly. "Green eyes, dressed in gray, absorbs magic?" 

"I saw him, but I didn't fight him." Xellos sat down next to her. "It would have been a waste of energy; energy that I needed to save you and Gourry." 

"Oh." 

"Shall I assume that by the absence of Zelgadis, Rock head either doesn't know or has already fallen?" 

"Xellos." Ruby eyes caught amethyst shards. "Zel was the first to fall, but not in the way you think." And she relayed the story L-sama had told her. 

Kuroi's green eyes danced with mirth as he hovered silently outside the cave that sheltered Lina and the remainder of her crew. A blade created of pure spirit energy formed in his grip, and he smiled as thunder and lighting crashed around him. 

"Time to die, Lina Inverse." His voice was lost amidst the howling winds, and a bolt of electricity illuminated the starry amulet at his collar. 

"Well now," Xellos sighed, "this will simply not do." 

"What are we going to do about Kuroi?" Lina asked. "He can absorb Shamanism, Black, White, and Nightmare magic. No weapon, enchanted or otherwise, can scratch him. Not even Hikari no Ken." 

"For L-sama's power to be threatened so... Nobody has ever captured all three types of masters... What to do..." 

"Xellos!" She whapped him. 

"He is manipulating souls, correct." He waited till he got a nod from her to continue. "Well then, he must have some kind of talisman that is connected to the souls, otherwise they would have departed to the next world." 

"Talisman?" Lina thought back to the gory fight that had already cost her the life of a dear friend. She tried to focus on the image of the laughing devil would had beaten them. 

"Net necessarily a large or gaudy item, it could be as small as my fist." 

"But it would be gemstone, right?" 

"Most definitely." 

"And if we shatter the stone, the souls can escape, right?" 

"That's correct." 

"Xellos... You haven't said 'That is a secret'." 

"Lina. When all of creation, including the creator, is in danger of being destroyed, there are no secrets." 

A slash of Kuroi's aura-blade silenced Xellos. Had the Mazoku not been so absorbed in his thoughts, he could have avoided the blow all together. His preternatural speed was all that kept the wound from being fatal. 

"Prepare to die!" Emerald eyes sparked as elemental energy gathered in his hand. Lina darted foreword, her eyes locked on the glowing amulet at his throat. Kuroi caught her by the wrist and sent a double Monobolt through her body. 

"L-Lina!" Gourry, having been awakened by her screams, gasped in horror. 

"Hello, blondie." Ikari grinned. "Remember me?" 

"You..." Blue eyes narrowed maliciously, and with a savage war cry, he charged. 

"Simpleton." A triple strength Diem Wind knocked him out of combat as well. 

"Who to kill first, the man, Mazoku, or woman..." he pondered. "Hmmm... Ah! Ladies first..." 

Power gathered in a golden sphere between his curved palms, and black sparks flickered off of its surface. A predatory grin spread across his face as he drew his arms back in preparation for the strike. 

Three pairs of eyes looked on him in paralyzed fear as his hands parted, and the globe began its deadly course. And as it blazed to her, a duo of light tones cracked the heavens and the stone at Kuroi's collar. 

_Gaea shelters her own_ whispered the first. 

_I fight for my friends. _Declared the other. 

X: Death. The End of Pain. 

The starry gem that served as a holding cell for the captured souls cracked, and fragments of the dark stone fell to the ground with a tinkle. 

Ikari Kuroi's emerald eyes were wide in disbelief. The golden orb veered off course, and dug a four-foot trench to Lina's right. A flash of pain seared her lungs as she gasped. Streams of dark red flowed from his mouth, nose, eyes, and anywhere else it could escape. 

"Imposs...ible." He gurgled over the blood. "Gaea's... Childe... not... this one..." 

"Gaea's Childe?" Xellos whispered as his wound began knitting itself together. "Gaea's chosen knight... like the Knight of Ceipheed?" 

"Kymairah..." Ikari crumpled to the ground, blood still pooling around him. "Childe... of Earth?" 

No more words passed his stained lips as the verdant orbs on sheets of white vanished into nothingness. 

"Knight of Gaea... Childe of Earth..." Xellos crawled over to Lina, cradling her in his arms and trying to wake her from her frozen, fearful trance. "I understand now. He was made of three types of spiritual energy... That's why Gaea chose him." 

"Him?" Lina repeated faintly. 

"Zelgadis." Xellos' amethyst eyes focused on the blackish-red puddle that surrounded the gray and ashen form of Kuroi. "Zelgadis' body was part Mazoku, therefore he understood dark spirits. He was also composed of Golem, giving him comprehension of the unadulterated elemental spirits. His human part was a link between the two; and a perfect knight for the Mother Earth." 

"Oh." Xellos' wordy explanation made her head hurt. 

"Lina, look." He murmured, pointing at the stardust that began to glow beneath the dusky liquid. "They're free. All of them. Let's watch; maybe we'll see Zel." 

"Zel?" Her ruby gaze scanned the departing sparks, ignoring red and blue and hunting desperately for a white one. "Zel?!" 

_The Kymairah is at rest now. _Gaea spoke gently. _His soul is no longer required. _

Fear struck a bitter note in Lina's throat. 

"What's different about a Kymairah?" Her voice came out strangled. 

"Kymairah is a blend of spirits. Chimera is of physical form only." Xellos answered. 

_My Childe is no longer a concern of yours, Mazoku. _Gaea's tone did not change. 

"He's my concern." Lina replied. "Before Kuroi's amulet broke, I heard Zel say something. He said he was fighting for his friends. He's my friend, so that makes it my concern." 

_Kuroi destroyed Zelgadis' body. _She sighed. _Had it not been, I could return him to you. But now, I cannot. He is no longer a part of the living world. _

"Can't we even say goodbye to him?" 

_Zelgadis can never to return to the mortal realm. _Gaea's voice became more forceful. _He is a part of the elements now. The only place you will ever see him again is in your own hearts. I wish I could return him to you my child, but his fight is over. _

"Oh." Tears streamed down her face unnoticed. "So that's it, then? My best friend is dead, my traveling companion is permanently crippled, and Amelia's dead..." 

"Forgive me, Lina-chan." Xellos murmured, hanging his head. "Maybe someday, you'd understand... but as your friend, this is all I can do for you." A vermilion glow surrounded them, shining like the last sunrise they would ever see as it became dawn outside the cavern. 

"Forgive me..." The explosion of death energy that followed instantly killed Lina and Gourry. Xellos' suicide left red dust in the air for years. 


End file.
